This is not news in fact, it is from 2005, but I noticed @Ihnatko tweet about it and so I headed over to NPR to give it a listen and read the text. I am not sure what he would do with several hundred pages, but in 500 words (or less) Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller fame (“he is the tall one”) has one of the most reasonable and accessible (perhaps even persuasive) essays I have read for not believing in God. He concludes
Believing there is no God means the suffering I’ve seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the world, isn’t caused by an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent force that isn’t bothered to help or is just testing us, but rather something we all may be able to help others with in the future. No God means the possibility of less suffering in the future.
Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-O and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have.
Seems to me Ehrman would agree with these sentiments. And as I grieve the passing of a colleague and friend whom I had far too little time to get to know, I certainly understand his point of view. Still, “this I canll to mind and therefore I have hope….”
2 thoughts on “Jillette believes there is no God”
He made an interesting video a few months ago about the gift of a Bible he recieved. You might be interested in it:
Thanks Erlend! That is great. This is another example of Penn saying that he has respect for those who proselytize since, if you believe in everlasting life, how much do you have to hate someone to not share that with them? Great respect.